Up to now, Sheva has not been used as a lone striker. What Jose likes to do with players, whoever they are, is toget through to them that each individual plays for the team. There's no room for ego's and superstars if the team ethos suffers. I think that he feels, especially with players like Sheva who is a superstar, that they need to be played in certain positions and under strict direction to emphasise to them how important the team ethos is. This must be very frustrating for some players who have been used to doing their thing on the pitch.
Take SWP for instance. He came to Chelsea already being lauded as one of England brightest prospects. As SWP has said, Jose saw that he could play but he needed to learn discipline, patience and to understand the team ethos. Bit by bit, SWP has listened and learned from Jose and his willingness to learn has finally paid off. If you see SWP play now, he not only plays his normal game but his defensive abilities have improved 100%, and his contribution as part of a team is obvious. Its taken Shawn 2 years to get this far at Chelsea but now we are beginning to see the new SWP, confident in his own ability and also aware that he plays for the team as a whole.
I think that Sheva is now going through the same thing with Jose. We all expected Sheva to take to the pitch, wait for the ball and score goal after goal. We all want that of course, including Jose, but before Sheva can be let loose I believe that Jose has decided that he needs to be enlightened to the way things happen at Chelsea. I expected Sheva being asked to play like this, and Ballack to a certain extent, to throw a wobbly and ask to leave. They haven't done that and I think that is a big sign that they are willing to listen and learn even at this stage of their career. That is the first big test and although I still aint sure about Ballack, Sheva has said that he believes that Jose's coaching will make him a better all round player.
Sometimes I wish that Jose would just put a player on the pitch and let him do his thing, but that's not Jose's way. Everything on the pitch has to work to a plan and he insists that all 11 players stick to that plan. If they do not, then we see Jose take off one or two players, whoever they are, and replace them. Not so much because they are not performing very well but simply because they are not following instructions.
This all worked well in the long run for SWP, and I believe that if a player really wants to suceed at Chelsea then they must show the same determination to learn as SWP. Sidwell is in that position right now. Jose, over time will improve this boy 1000%. One of the reasons he was brought to Chelsea was because Jose could see that with the right coaching Sidwell , even though he is a rather raw talent at the moment, will benefit from all that Jose can teach him. Maybe it will take another 2 years to get him there but these things do take time.
I think Sheva will be fine but if people expect to see him play for us like he did for Milan then they will be dissapointed. Things are done differently here and once Sheva has grasped the important things that Jose needs him to understand, his confidence will return and he will fit in very well indeed.
I must admit though that it's getting a little frustrating at times waiting for Jose's master plan to come to fruition, but what can we do about it? Not a lot apart from supporting the team at every opportunity and believing in the future.